Zuluhead:

The both tried to liberate the black race thru their professions, the whites were scared of their level of mentality and exposure.
At that time black oppression was at its peak in america, europe and south africa.

yes ur right..by the 1980's, those things u mentioned (black oppression, racism etc) were gradually coming to an end thats y in 1984, soyinka won the noble prize.. thats y many people especially the yorubas think that since achebe didnt win any nobel award, that he is not a great writer.wat they actually dont know is that achebe (as one of the pioneers of african literature) would av won the award long before soyinka came into the literary scene if not for the aforementioned cause above.

AuntLaVIV:
Throwback picture of the father of modern African literature Chinua Achebe and Afro beat king Fela Kuti in the 1970s.

Lalasticlala

its certainly not 70s but 80s

Nice picture. This was before tribalism ate deep into all facets of Nigerian society.

cosmos1440:


neo-colonialist kwa ?
it's obvious you don't know the meaning of the word

Phew! Thanks it has been modified

LotannaAnaekwe:
Afonigbo!!!

Yoruokoro !

Humblebloke:
two great men...one is greater tho'

So who is the greater one among them

NwaAmaikpe:



You see Chinua Achebe and Fela Kuti.

I see the most incorruptible Igbo man and the bravest Yoruba man that ever lived.
Both breeds are extinct now!!!

I stand to be corrected.

both the bravest, incorruptible, the fool and the wise will all be no more and will die and forgotten same way. Ecclesiastes 3: 15-20

innobets:


So who is the greater one among them

I guess i ll keep that to myself

SLIMDON88:
Men of wisdom just like Sir M.Buhari

You have been warned not to take tramadol again but you refused, see as u dey disgrace yourself for public now

unohbethel:
yes ur right..by the 1980's, those things u mentioned (black oppression, racism etc) were gradually coming to an end thats y in 1984, soyinka won the noble prize.. thats y many people especially the yorubas think that since achebe didnt win any nobel award, that he is not a great write
r.wat they actually dont know is that achebe (as one of the pioneers of african literature) would av won the award long before soyinka came into the literary scene if not for the aforementioned cause above.

You didn't tell us that Leo Tolstoy, Robert Frost, Mark Twain and other great writers who never won the Nobel Prize were also fighting for the black race.


Sit down in your bedroom and continue to give opinion about what you don't know...

Basic123:

That is not the answer!

how has Achebe struggled to emancipate the black race?

also, Achebe is not an all rounder in literature he only writes in prose and poem although good at it!

And who said you have to write all classes of literature to be able to win the Nobel? You just have to be excellent at what you do in order to attract accolades. People who won it, won it as a result of few works of theirs that stood out, not because of their collection of writings.

NwaAmaikpe:



You see Chinua Achebe and Fela Kuti.

I see the most incorruptible Igbo man and the bravest Yoruba man that ever lived.
Both breeds are extinct now!!!

I stand to be corrected.

I'm incorruptible and brave

Humblebloke:



I guess i ll keep that to myself

OK.. That's better

NwaAmaikpe:



You see Chinua Achebe and Fela Kuti.

I see the most incorruptible Igbo man and the bravest Yoruba man that ever lived.
Both breeds are extinct now!!!

I stand to be corrected.

Right to an extent but the are not extinct. Men that affect millions of destinies can go extinct .Legacies lives forever

oyetunder:
Life is on the move. Our Today shall become the yesterday of some yet to be born. Let us minimise our gragra...

Yes!minimize gragra or ajekun Iya loading

vastolord4:
If only we could turn back the hands of time

That's not possible, but guess what? Their manhood still lives on in Mama Peace voice

okomile:
Once upon a time.......

idiot. ..gorilla in your fictional zoo...racist and territorial mongoose!weerey of the month of April...cownus henchman

Where is the afonja here?....u need brain examination

unohbethel:
yes ur right..by the 1980's, those things u mentioned (black oppression, racism etc) were gradually coming to an end thats y in 1984, soyinka won the noble prize.. thats y many people especially the yorubas think that since achebe didnt win any nobel award, that he is not a great writer.wat they actually dont know is that achebe (as one of the pioneers of african literature) would av won the award long before soyinka came into the literary scene if not for the aforementioned cause above.

You people have started displaying ignorance. Achebe did not win the Nobel Prize simply because he was not good enough for the prize.

There are many writers who wrote about racism and still got a Nobel Prize, for example, the first and still the only black woman to win it, Toni Morrison wrote a lot about racism in America.

Achebe was not even as traditional as Soyinka. Soyinka gave no damn about the whites. He chose to bear his Yoruba name right from the start and he never shied from telling people that his patron saint is Ogun, the Yoruba god of war. Soyinka also speaks against the destruction of shrines and he never wears suit. He received his Nobel Prize dressed in Ankara. If there is one writer who is deeply African, it is Soyinka.

All these conspiracy theories that Achebe was denied because he liberated Africa is hogwash. He was even more European than Soyinka.

AuntLaVIV:
Throwback picture of the father of modern African literature Chinua Achebe and Afro beat king Fela Kuti in the 1970s.

Lalasticlala

Great men!! AFRICIAN LEGENDS

BluntBoy:


You people have started displaying ignorance. Achebe did not win the Nobel Prize simply because he was not good enough for the prize.

There are many writers who wrote about racism and still got a Nobel Prize, for example, the first and still the only black woman to win it, Toni Morrison wrote a lot about racism in America.

Achebe was not even as traditional as Soyinka. Soyinka gave no damn about the whites. He chose to bear his Yoruba name right from the start and he never shied from telling people that his patron saint is Ogun, the Yoruba god of war. Soyinka also speaks against the destruction of shrines and he never wears suit. He received his Nobel Prize dressed in Ankara. If there is one writer who is deeply African, it is Soyinka.

All these conspiracy theories that Achebe was denied because he liberated Africa is hogwash. He was even more European than Soyinka.

lol i know soyinka is great n all!! N i see no need for comparisons!! But achebe did liberate Africa when it came to africian literature !! His book things fall apart cannot be over emphasised!!! Soyinka is a great literatus not withstanding!!

I never read where Achebe emancipated for the black.meanwhile Nigeria gained independent in 1960. And Achebe was too young to speak against colonial master. Achebe brain started function when African countries gained their freedom from colonialism.

Shugavee:
lol i know soyinka is great n all!! N i see no need for comparisons!! But achebe did liberate Africa when it came to africian literature !! His book things fall apart cannot be over emphasised!!! Soyinka is a great literatus not withstanding!!

That book is overhyped.

It didn't liberate Africa in anyway. Instead, it presented Africans as barbaric. Achebe talked about killing of twins, human sacrifices (Ikemefuna's murder) and then painted the whites as liberators. Things Fall Apart is just exactly the same note made by the whites. Achebe was not original.

In another of his novels, No Longer At Ease, he portrayed the Africans as thoroughly corrupt and the whites (symbolized by Mr Greene) as incorruptible.

Achebe simply painted the whites as good in his novels set in precolonial and colonial era.

He doesn't come close to Soyinka in depth, originality and the sustained voice.

Tell me how Things Fall Apart liberated Africans. The only thing it did was even expose us as savages and portrayed the whites like Mary Slessor for instance as our liberators from the worship of dead gods. Read Things Fall Apart, and you will see that Achebe revered the whites and even couldn't hide his disdain for the African religions.

.

BluntBoy:


That book is overhyped.

It didn't liberate Africa in anyway. Instead, it presented Africans as barbaric. Achebe talked about killing of twins, human sacrifices (Ikemefuna's murder) and then painted the whites as liberators. Things Fall Apart is just exactly the same note made by the whites. Achebe was not original.

In another of his novels, No Longer At Ease, he portrayed the Africans as thoroughly corrupt and the whites (symbolized by Mr Greene) as incorruptible.

Achebe simply painted the whites as good in his novels set in precolonial and colonial era.

He doesn't come close to Soyinka in depth, originality and the sustained voice.

Tell me how Things Fall Apart liberated Africans. The only thing it did was even expose us as savages and portrayed the whites like Mary Slessor for instance as our liberators from the worship of dead gods. Read Things Fall Apart, and you will see that Achebe revered the whites and even couldn't hide his disdain for the African religions.

firstly i am not good at writing long epistles so don't mind my errors

Been long I read his books n I hv lost memory of it but here i what i remember

When literature came into Africa by the write men, all their book represent blacks as disorganized and uncivilized,made black look bad to blacks, books like Robinson cusoe n Othello etc

Now in things fall apart, achebe showed Africa as an organized place, a king, cabinet members, a place with rules n regulation, africians with great respect for authority n so on

Futher more the protagonist, forgotten his name, him self represented africa, he was a metaphoric character!! Represented how africians loved n adores their traditions before colonialization, if i can remember correctly he killed himself, n that interpreted the death of the africian culture, after trying his best to burn the churches he still couldn't succeed, so he said instead of him to live with out his africian heritage he would die!!!

Achebe brought the true picture of Africa it's good n bad, if he didnt mention all the negative part, it would be an allusion not literature because indeed africian could kill to uphold their tradition, but he also showed the Good part the whites always neglected

More so his book is not recongniced cause he was so good in fiction, it was so reconginiced because of the effect it had on the African people!! And also foreigners to!!!

Now let me explain why wole soyinka books r seen as European::: wole soyinka mission was to get to European standard so he made his works too hard for the average readers! He made an impact that africians r also intelligent through his styles n diction!!but neglected the africian audience...

In the study of africian literature u must be very good with achebes works, u read things fall apart n arrow of God n so on till u graduate!! But most times u read wole soyinka books ones a while, except u take it up urself!! Futher more his books r manly studied by linguist!! But when it comes to literature Achebe is a king


Awards means nothing my dear, how many awards did fela win, did he win more than davido n wizkid!!! But he made a foundation!! Fela is some worth like achebe when it comes to theatre n performance!!!! Why is fela so relevant?? Because of the social event n influence he attracted with his music!!

Enough said!! U are free not to agree but this is plain fact!!!

Shugavee:
firstly i am not good at writing long epistles so don't mind my errors

Been long I read his books n I hv lost memory of it but here i what i remember

When literature came into Africa by the write men, all their book represent blacks as disorganized and uncivilized,made black look bad to blacks, books like Robinson cusoe n Othello etc

Now achebe showed Africa as an organized place, a king, cabinet members, a place with rules n regulation, africians with great respect for authority n so on

Futher more the protagonist, forgotten his name, him self represented africa, he was a metaphoric character!! Represented how africians loved n adores their traditions before colonialization, if i can remember correctly he killed himself, n that interpreted the death of the africian culture, after trying his best to burn the churches he still couldn't succeed, so he said instead of him to live with out his africian heritage he would die!!!

Achebe brought the true picture of Africa it's good n bad, if he did mention all the negative part, it would be an allusion not literature because indeed africian could kill to uphold their tradition, but he also showed the Good part the whites always neglected

More so his book is not recongniced cause he was so good in fiction, it was so reconginiced because of the effect it had on the African people!! And also foreigners to!!!

Now let me explain why wole soyinka books r seen as European::: wole soyinka mission was to get to European standard so he made his works too hard for the average readers! He made an impact that africians r also intelligent through his styles n diction!!but neglected the africian audience...

In the study of africian literature u must be very good with achebes works, u read things fall apart n arrow of God n so on till u graduate!! But most times u read wole soyinka books ones a while, except u take it up urself!! Futher more his books r manly studied by linguist!! But when it comes to literature Achebe is a king


Awards means nothing my dear, how many awards did fela win, did he win more than davido n wizkid!!! But he made a foundation!! Fela is some worth like achebe when it comes to theatre n performance!!!! Why is fela so relevant?? Because of the social event n influence he attracted with his music!!

Enough said!! U are free not to agree but this is plain fact!!!

I understand Okonkwo and all the symbolism.

But read that book again, especially the conversion of Nwafor and you would see Achebe's liking for the white religion. His description of the hymn which won the boy over is enough to convince anyone that Achebe took sides with the whites. Always in the story, there was a covert portrayal of the African culture as barbaric and inferior to the ones the whites were propagating. The book did not merely portray the historical triumph of the white over the blacks but also rubbed in our faces the very way the whites saw the African deities ---- powerless and not alive.

And mind you, it was not Achebe that first described Africans as organized. Fagunwa and many others, had done so with their blends of folklore and fiction. Before Achebe, there was African literature.

I can reel them out but I am so tired right now.

And, why aren't you sleeping already I just read that we, night owls, don't live as long as the larks

Shugavee:
firstly i am not good at writing long epistles so don't mind my errors

Been long I read his books n I hv lost memory of it but here i what i remember

When literature came into Africa by the write men, all their book represent blacks as disorganized and uncivilized,made black look bad to blacks, books like Robinson cusoe n Othello etc

Now in things fall apart, achebe showed Africa as an organized place, a king, cabinet members, a place with rules n regulation, africians with great respect for authority n so on

Futher more the protagonist, forgotten his name, him self represented africa, he was a metaphoric character!! Represented how africians loved n adores their traditions before colonialization, if i can remember correctly he killed himself, n that interpreted the death of the africian culture, after trying his best to burn the churches he still couldn't succeed, so he said instead of him to live with out his africian heritage he would die!!!

Achebe brought the true picture of Africa it's good n bad, if he didnt mention all the negative part, it would be an allusion not literature because indeed africian could kill to uphold their tradition, but he also showed the Good part the whites always neglected

More so his book is not recongniced cause he was so good in fiction, it was so reconginiced because of the effect it had on the African people!! And also foreigners to!!!

Now let me explain why wole soyinka books r seen as European::: wole soyinka mission was to get to European standard so he made his works too hard for the average readers! He made an impact that africians r also intelligent through his styles n diction!!but neglected the africian audience...

In the study of africian literature u must be very good with achebes works, u read things fall apart n arrow of God n so on till u graduate!! But most times u read wole soyinka books ones a while, except u take it up urself!! Futher more his books r manly studied by linguist!! But when it comes to literature Achebe is a king


Awards means nothing my dear, how many awards did fela win, did he win more than davido n wizkid!!! But he made a foundation!! Fela is some worth like achebe when it comes to theatre n performance!!!! Why is fela so relevant?? Because of the social event n influence he attracted with his music!!

Enough said!! U are free not to agree but this is plain fact!!!

Achebe king of literature

Someone who wrote just five pop literature

Come on, Shugavee. How many African writers do you even know?

Have you read Ngugi Wa Thiong'O? Have you read Naguib Mahfouz? Have you read Nadine Gordimer? Have you read JM Coatzee?

Achebe was not even as good as Isidore Okpewho. Have you read Isidore Okpewho?

Achebe was lucky with Things Fall Apart. I like his Arrow of God better. But No Longer At Ease, A Man of The People and then Anthills of the Savannah. Please, how is Achebe king of literature

Writing pop literature does not make you king. If not, the likes of Stephen King and JK Rowling will be called kings of literature.

BluntBoy:


I understand Okonkwo and all the symbolism.

But read that book again, especially the conversion of Nwafor and you would see Achebe's liking for the white religion. His description of the hymn which won the boy over is enough to convince anyone that Achebe took sides with the whites. Always in the story, there was a covert portrayal of the African culture as barbaric and inferior to the ones the whites were propagating. The book did not merely portray the historical triumph of the white over the blacks but also rubbed in our faces the very way the whites saw the African deities ---- powerless and not alive.

And mind you, it was not Achebe that first described Africans as organized. Fagunwa and many others, had done so with their blends of folklore and fiction. Before Achebe, there was African literature.

I can reel them out but I am so tired right now.

And, why aren't you sleeping already I just read that we, night owls, don't live as long as the larks

literature is the depiction of real life, it's neither true or untrue, were we not dominated by the white? Weren't we powerless,

Before achebe ofcourse there was literature!! Onitsha market literature long existed b4 things fall apart but he was the one that created a text that got the attention of all, there was music b4 fela too!! So u see!! Literatry critics like you make his books remain relevant!

BluntBoy:


Achebe king of literature

Someone who wrote just five pop literature

Come on, Shugavee. How many African writers do you even know?

Have you read Ngugi Wa Thiong'O? Have you read Naguib Mahfouz? Have you read Nadine Gordimer? Have you read JM Coatzee?

Achebe was not even as good as Isidore Okpewho. Have you read Isidore Okpewho?

Achebe was lucky with Things Fall Apart. I like his Arrow of God better. But No Longer At Ease, A Man of The People and then Anthills of the Savannah. Please, how is Achebe king of literature

Writing pop literature does not make you king. If not, the likes of Stephen King and JK Rowling will be called kings of literature.

no need to argue, goodnight dear

ChimuchiYola:
When men were men!!!
Now ladies like me can beat most men

This is the irony of the fact. It sucks to be a Nigerians.

Shugavee:
literature is the depiction of real life, it's neither true or untrue, were we not dominated by the white? Weren't we powerless,

Before achebe ofcourse there was literature!! Onitsha market literature long existed b4 things fall apart but he was the one that created a text that got the attention of all, there was music b4 fela too!! So u see!! Literatry critics like you make his books remain relevant!

You are missing the point. Achebe's voice in Things Fall Apart was very friendly toward the whites. Our gods were described as useless. That is what Soyinka will never do.

For instance, in his Lion and the Jewel, Tradition triumphs over westernization.

In the Interpreters, he blends myths with realistic narrative.

In Achebe's books, the Africans and their religions don't always stand a chance. And yet, you all accuse Soyinka of warming up to the whites when in reality, it was Achebe that was licking the whiteman's ass by portraying the gods as powerless and the whiteman always as victorious in all spheres.

Shugavee:
no need to argue, goodnight dear

Are you angry

Alright, sweet dreams.